Vanity Fair does a fantastic job of describing the Smartphone Wars between Apple and Samsung.

One day in March 2011, cars carrying investigators from Korea’s anti-trust regulator pulled up outside a Samsung facility in Suwon, about 25 miles south of Seoul. They were there ready to raid the building, looking for evidence of possible collusion between the company and wireless operators to fix the prices of mobile phones.

Before the investigators could get inside, security guards approached and refused to let them through the door. A standoff ensued, and the investigators called the police, who finally got them inside after a 30-minute delay. Curious about what had been happening in the plant as they cooled their heels outside, the officials seized video from internal security cameras. What they saw was almost beyond belief.

Upon getting word that investigators were outside, employees at the plant began destroying documents and switching computers, replacing the ones that were being used—and might have damaging material on them—with others.

What?! Samsung employees destroyed the evidence of their copying and stealing? I doubt that many members of the Technorati who have followed the Apple/Samsung patent battles would be surprised to hear of this, but the extent that Samsung would go to cover up their blatant illegal activity is shocking nonetheless.

But it wasn’t the first time…

Still, some Samsung executives saw a path for boosting profits by boldly and illegally fixing prices with competitors in some of their top businesses.

And…

In 2007, its former top legal officer, Kim Yong-chul, who made his name as a star prosecutor in South Korea before joining Samsung, blew the whistle on what he said was massive corruption at the company. He accused senior executives of engaging in bribery, money-laundering, evidence tampering, stealing as much as $9 billion, and other crimes. In essence, Kim, who later wrote a book about his allegations, contended that Samsung was one of the most corrupt companies in the world.

I remember these allegations when they first came to light, but after reading about the full extent off their illegal collusion, it has more significance.

It disgusts me to even read the linked Vanity Fair article. Samsung has a history of stealing IP, countersuing when caught, then settling on the eve of having it’s infringing products banned. Through it all, their profits more than offset the settlements, penalties, and jury awards.